Friday, January 22, 2010

Thanks to Buffalo and Some Views of Saint James

Happy Friday to you all. It's cold and overcast here in the Midwest, but the days are growing longer, giving us a bit of hope that Spring might not be far away—ah, we wait in hope!

Thanks to all of my new friends in the diocese of Buffalo who posted comments about yesterday's blog. I was so pleased to see Margie G.'s comment:Thank you Jerry....that was so beautifully put. I needed to hear it said just that way. I have been struggling with the whole idea of these new translations and you have given me just the lens I need to view them in a new way.

You see, as a Catholic publisher here in our offices and cubicles in Franklin Park, Illinois, we often wonder what impact our work is having "out there." Thanks, Margie, for this boost. And I am glad that my comments helped you in some way.

I am looking forward to a presentation I am giving tomorrow morning to a group of ministers of care from parishes in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I am also looking forward to returning to Mass at St. James—my parish here on the near south side of the city of Chicago. Even when I am gone for one weekend, due to my travels, I miss the folks there and the sense of connection and the nurturing I find there. I did take a few photos of St. James on Epiphany. Remember that we are temporarily (hopefully) worshipping in our parish hall while engineers examine the viability of our dear old church building. Here is a shot of the arrival of the four magi (two women and two men):

And here's another view of our place for worship:

I hope that wherever you are that the coming weekend's celebration of the liturgy lifts your heart and strengthens you to do the work of the Lord in the coming week.

4 comments:

Last night I was not enthusiastic about getting up (reltively) early on a Saturday morning to go to a talk but I was so glad I did! I could listen to your stories for days...I feel renewed to continue doing work in and around the community again.

Was the Opening Song "We Four Kings and Queens"? This seems a bit odd. Sure, there is no number given in the Scriptures so that might get a pass. I don't know about the female Magi though....or was it just women taking the parts of men for the purposes of the dramatization?

About Me and the Blog

Dr. Jerry Galipeau is Vice President and Chief Publishing Officer at J. S. Paluch Company and its music and liturgy division, World Library Publications, located in Franklin Park, Illinois.
Jerry presents keynotes and workshops throughout the United States and Canada on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, liturgical spirituality, ritual music, evangelization, and adult spiritual formation. He earned the Doctor of Ministry with a concentration in liturgical studies from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago in 1999.
Gotta Sing Gotta Pray is Jerry's blog in which he shares reflections on current events in the Church and in the world that may be of particular interest to those serving the Church.